The Spire is the monthly parish magazine and has developed in both style and production, being redesigned and developed into a journal that has been widely acclaimed as clear, accessible and informative. The size of the magazine has changed, there is effective use of colour and there is now no advertising. The magazine is distributed free, but each year there is an appeal for voluntary contributions.

The magazine is produced and distributed by a group of parishioners who believe that good communication is essential to the understanding and propagation of the Christian faith. The Spire aims to have as wide a variety of material as possible, including not only Church notices and reports but also articles reflecting the life of parishioners, the wider community and national or global issues. Besides the magazine’s necessary factual content - who to contact for particular needs and how to find them - there are features which we hope are helpful or at least interesting to as wide an audience as possible.

The vicar addresses us in each issue with his reflection on matters of Christian concern. The Young Spire page may be instructive to people well beyond youth. Members of our community write of their personal beliefs and interests. Also covered are charities, both at home and abroad, as well as matters of community concern. Activities which help our local or distant communities also feature.

We know that there are many readers of the magazine, churchgoers or not, who have things to write which we would be helpful and interesting to others. Some have already contributed for us; we hope that future issues will contain many more articles of this type from a wide range of readers.

The Spire Committee is essentially the editorial committee who meet early each month to decide on the content of the next issue. During the following two weeks, the editors gather the material, decide on the layout, the drafts are proof-read and the magazine is in Church by the first Sunday of each month. There is a band of volunteers who deliver copies to houses in the parish every month.

Each issue, 580 copies are delivered to 19 distributors all around the parish and beyond. 40 copies are also sent out each time by post to a wide variety of people - past clergy, former parishioners, local churches, the Bishop of Kensington and Archdeacon of Middlesex, as well as the local newspapers, schools and hospitals. All contributions are welcome.

A bit of history: January 1952 saw the introduction of “The Spire”, replacing the old Hampton Hill Parish Magazine. Rising costs nearly prevented the magazine from continuing, but after a great deal of co-operative planning it was hoped not only to continue it, but to make it better than ever. “And what more appropriate name could we have for the magazine of a church with such a splendid architectural feature than “The Spire”? The spire of St. James’s can be seen for miles around; it is a prominent landmark, looked for and loved by many as they go about their business in the district or return home from London after a day’s work in the city. It stands for homely, familiar things; it makes us feel that this is where we belong, in a community which has its roots firmly fixed in the best traditions of the past and which therefore can face the future hopefully. It also reminds us of things far greater than this world, yet meant to find expression in this world: it is at the same time an inspiration and a challenge. It calls upon us both to seek God in His glory, and to serve men in their need. We hope that some of the things which it symbolizes and represents will find embodiment in various ways in the pages of this magazine as the months go by.” Source: The Spire Magazine - 1952 January